


Maligayang Kaarawan

by amolegere



Series: Drabbles [4]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Birthday Presents, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 11:30:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18738139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amolegere/pseuds/amolegere
Summary: It's Shep's birthday and Kaidan wanted to get her something special





	Maligayang Kaarawan

**Author's Note:**

> Maligayang kaarawan - Happy birthday
> 
> Just wanted to write a little something for Shep's bday!

“Come in.”

There was a hiss, signaling the door to her cabin opening. Neneng looked up to see Kaidan. She put down her datapad and smiled.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I heard it was your birthday.”

“You heard right.” She noticed that he was hiding something behind his back. “Kaidan, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I know.” He gestured towards the couch and the two of them sat down, all the while Kaidan kept what was behind his back hidden. “I noticed you’ve been feeling homesick, so I pulled some strings. It’s just a synthetic copy, but I think they did a good job making it. I almost couldn’t tell when I saw it myself. Plus it means you won’t have to worry about watering it.”

As Kaidan took out what was behind his back, a familiar scent hit Neneng’s nose. Her eyes widened slightly. She was suddenly sent back to those days of walking up and down the EDSA traffic, garlands in hand, hoping that she could sell enough for her to be able to eat. Sometimes it would take her sunrise to sunset to earn enough, with only those small white flowers to keep her company. The days with the sun shining bright were especially difficult, as the heat would only intensify the smell of the flowers. The long days and heat meant that it could take more than one wash to get rid of the scent fully. Neneng felt queasy.

“Sampaguitas.” Kaidan pointed the bouquet towards her, causing her to back away slightly. “I figured you could put them here somewhere. So you wouldn’t feel as homesick.”

“Right, because they’re the national flower of the Philippines.” Neneng smiled, trying to hide the fact that she was trying to control her gag reflex. 

“Happy birthday, Neng!” 

Kaidan held the bouquet out to her and after a moment of hesitance, she took it. Neneng immediately regretted it. The smell became too overwhelming. She tried to hold down the rising feeling in her throat, but it was too much. As much as she didn’t want to hurt Kaidan’s feelings, she couldn’t control her own body and made a gagging noise.

Kaidan frowned. “You don’t like it?”

“What? No, I love it!” She gulped, trying not to gag again.

“You’re trying not to puke right now.”

“Kaidan.” She put down the flowers on the coffee table. “I really appreciate you getting them for me, it’s just that, well, I really hate how they smell.” Neneng went on to explain how she had spent too much time around the flowers as a child.

“I should’ve just gotten you a flag,” Kaidan said when she finished.

“That probably would’ve been a better idea.” 

He gave her a small smile and looked down.

“Hey,” she said taking his hands in hers, “I really appreciate that you went through all of that trouble. It was really sweet.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She put a hand under his chin, pulling him in for a kiss. As they pulled apart, Neneng made another gagging noise.

“How about,” Kaidan said as he grabbed the bouquet, “we take these down to engineering and throw it in the garbage compactor.”

“Good idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sampaguitas are called jasmines in english
> 
> Original post from my [tumblr](https://mahalzevran.tumblr.com/post/184122162154/since-its-sheps-birthday-april-11-i-wrote-a)


End file.
